Just a Woman (NarutoModern crossover) Completed
by fauness333
Summary: It was one mistake! It happened way to quickly for him to detect and stop it - he had put himself under genjutsu and sent himself to another world, to apartment of a certain woman.
1. Chapter 1

Madara threw attack after attack at his opponent; the everlasting frown never left his handsome features.

He bent down, avoiding the punch that the man he fought was trying to give him. He looked up at his opponent and activated his clan's famed eye power, the Sharingan. He made eye contact and was about to leave the man trapped in a genjutsu, then go on and fight others; but instead of simply leaving the victim of Sharingan paralyzed and in fear he felt a strong tingle, himself.

Suddenly, the field they fought on started to spin around him, giving him slight headache. _What the..._ His mind raced. He couldn't have put himself under genjutsu, could he? His body went numb, as if he was disappearing, limb after limb. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to make it go away.  
When he reopened them, though, he was not there anymore. Completely confused, he looked around.

He stood in the middle of big white room. Sickly white. The carpet he stood on was white, walls as well, dining table and chairs also... _Did he die and go to heaven?_ Unlikely! He was supposed to have that other guy trapped under Sharingan, then killed; not the other way around! Oh... When he closed his eyes, he got killed! That must be it!

He scoffed. How could he, a prodigy, die over something so stupid? Who the hell closes their eyes in the middle of battle?!

 _"Tch..."_ He made a sound, now irritated. Well, there's no helping it now, he can just...

His thoughts were interrupted as a loud scream came from behind him. He turned around quickly, his shinobi reflexes kicking in, his Sharingan activated and waiting to be used. _Who would think there could be such situations even in heaven?_ He frowned further, now facing the source of the scream.

A woman. A sparingly dressed woman. He looked her up and down, wondering why was she half naked - wearing short thin, white dress; her hair messy. His eyes widened as he detected flower vase flying in his direction. He avoided it easily.

"How did you get in here?! Are you a pervert? An otaku pervert?!" She added, grabbing another vase. He was about to reply something along the line _'What do you think you're doing, woman?'_ , but kept silent. He didn't understand the word she said. A pervert? He did nothing for her to label him as pervert, she is the one who ran out before him so poorly dressed. And what the hell is _otaku_ , anyway?

Also, he had absolutely no idea how he got there - at least now it was certain that he didn't die; heaven probably doesn't have noisy women in it.

"If you move, I will call the police!" The woman spoke again, taking a weird, white thing from the coffee table she stood beside.

 _Call what?_ "Leave now!" _If he moves she'll call pol- something, but he should leave now. Is that doable?_ "Calm down, woman." He spoke, his voice deep and strict as always; but that didn't seem to work on her as it did on normal women.

"Don't tell me to calm down! I am being violated in my own home! I will have you arrested!" She went on and started tapping the white thing from before with her fingers. He didn't really understand what she did and why, but he knew that white thing would get him in trouble so he took out a kunai and threw it precisely so that it knocked the thing out of woman's hand, without harming her. She screamed anyway, as expected.

"Wha-what are you..." She watched him, horrified. "You are... armed..." She pointed out the obvious, as if being armed was weird or something.  
"Yes, I am armed." He answered, deciding to play along, hoping that would calm her down. "And we're going to have problems if you continue screaming at me." He added, appearing before her in a second with another kunai in his hand.

She stepped back clumsily, staring at him in disbelief. _Who is he? What is he going to do to her?_ Madara simply gazed back at her for a while, waiting for her to come to realization that he actually means no harm. However, it didn't seem she would anytime soon, since her eyes looked longingly at the white thing she attempted to use before.

"I am not going to hurt you, so calm down." He ordered slowly, hoping she will listen this time.  
"What - What do you want? Are you not a pervert?..." She asked carefully, eyeing him.

"No, I am no pervert. I seem to be lost and I don't know how I got here." Madara answered, as carefully as she asked, looking down at shorter woman before him. Just then, he felt sharp pain flash trough his abdomen and mechanically, his gloved hand moved to hold the wounded spot.

"Are you... alright?" The woman questioned, watching his actions. "I did take a strike after all..." He said more to himself.

"A strike? Did you get in fight or something? And why are you dressed like that? Is there a cosplay event in town?"  
She asked something more, but pulsating in his bleeding wound was deafening. "I need first aid. Help me take care of this and then I might answer your questions."


	2. Chapter 2

"Stop the bullshit and seriously tell me what the hell you are doing in my apartment?!" The woman told Madara, sounding as if she was losing her patience.

Now that was something. He was not even yelled at by his own mother! "What kind of language is that?" He said calmly, but with authority. "I have told you ten times already! I have accidentally put myself under genjutsu and sent myself to this place. I don't care about you nor your apartment, and I would have never came here on purpose."

To his great surprise and annoyance, she laughed. It was neither an honest nor fake laughter. It was completely sarcastic.

"I don't know whether to call police or ambulance or asylum!"

The argument would drag on for hours with Madara losing his patience little by little and the woman yelling bunch of strange terms at him. However, he could no longer permit one girl to scream at him.

He pulled out the kunai yet again, holding it up for her to see it clearly. "If you don't stop I won't hesitate to cut your throat." In different circumstances, he would have done just that long ago.

The movements made his freshly bandaged wounds stretch and burn, but he let none of that show on the outside.

She had stopped yelling at him after that, but she still insisted that he shows her his ID, which was another thing he's never heard of.

This uncomfortable encounter ended with Madara leaving the girl's apartment angrily, intending to find his way back home on his own.

Five hours later, he was back, but he had to climb up to the window in order to enter. He sulked at first, thinking that she refused to open the door, but then saw she was not at home any longer.

Well, even if she was home, he would probably have to climb up anyway.

Honestly, this town was one of the scariest things he's seen in his life – and he has seen a lot of scary stuff.

It was nearly like a battlefield: people ran around in crowds busily, they bumped into him multiple times, but no one seemed to notice or care, he was twice nearly ran over by a weird horse-less carriage.

Everything was buzzing, everything was loud, nobody watched where they were going. There were barely any trees and all he could see were rows and rows of enormous stone or glass buildings.

Madara decided that there was no need for him to continue overthinking the situation. For now, there was nothing he could do to change it. However, he could use some food and sleep.

Making himself comfortable, he snooped around the white apartment until he finally found where she kept food.

As he finished, he was even kind enough to clean after himself.

After that he went to find a bedroom, and just took a minute or two to judge his host for being so sloppy.

How could she keep her sleeping chamber so messy? It looked as if her wardrobe exploded, so piles of her colorful clothes were spread around everywhere. Her bed was unmade, even though it was already afternoon and by only a glance at her mess of a vanity, he could have sworn that she possessed more make-up than an average geisha.

He had decided to ignore it, so he just went over to the big bed to take a blanket and made himself a cushion on the floor.

When Shizu came home, it was approximately midnight. She had no time to pull out her cell phone to look at the time, she was too busy trying to get her entrance password right.

"Shit." She whispered the curse to herself, as she got it wrong yet again. She had changed it earlier that day because some weirdo had managed to enter her house, but now she couldn't remember the exact digits nor their order.

"2… 7…1, 4?" She chanted the numbers silently, while typing in the password, but in vain. The device produced that sad melody which only made her failure even heavier. She really should have made a note somewhere.

She cleared it, about to try again, but – oh, miracle – the door opened. Looking up from her bent position, her eyes and mouth widened in sync. "Y-You?!" She pointed at the person with her finger accusingly.

"Just get in. I've been watching you punching that thing for the past thirty minutes." He said, sounding bored.

"Just get in? You just get out! Why did you come back?!" She protested, but still entered the apartment.

"You will let me stay here for the time being."

"Oh, says who?"

"Says the future leader of Uchiha clan." At that, Shizu gave him the exact same look he's been giving her in the morning. "Of what? Is that some gang? Tch, childish."

"How dare you?" His voice went half an octave lower as he lifted his chin, obviously wanting to be even taller than he already was. "Uchiha is a noble clan that has given some of the strongest shinobi ever. Our kekkei genkai—"

"Yeah, okay." Shizu gave in, passing by him to go and take a seat on her white couch. To her he seemed like a clown with a knife. And she was actually wondering if those were even real knifes, they could as well be plastic – the guy was batshit crazy!

"So, in the end: What is it that you want from me, nobleman?" She could not help her sarcasm. With that huge hedgehog-like hair and dirty clothes he looked anything but noble.

"I want to stay here until I can find my way back home."

"That's all?" The man shrugged his shoulders, as to confirm. "And what are you willing to give me in exchange?"

He frowned at her question as if he wasn't expecting her to ask for anything. Clearing his throat, he spoke up:

"An Uchiha word. It is a— Why are you laughing?!" He raised his voice accusingly at her. Back at home, he would destroy anyone who would even try to go against the greatness of his clan, and here a mere girl ridiculed it.

"What is your name?" Shizu asked between the laughs. She wasn't even being mean now, it was truly amusing how conceited yet naïve this man was.

"Madara." He spat.

"Shizu." She said, stretching out her hand for a handshake, but he didn't budge. Rude, she thought, retreating her arm.

"Well, Madara, I hope you are good at house chores. For, if you plan to stay here, you cannot do so for free."


	3. Chapter 3

Bad news: Madara could not bring himself to collect even an ounce of chakra. When he just got to this place, he was able to, but with time lesser and lesser, until finally, he could no longer do it at all.

There was nothing he could do at the moment but continue washing the pile of dirty dishes before him.

For some reason, the girl had just stopped fearing him. He still waved around with kunai every once in a while, but she would just shrug him off as if he was an annoying child.

If only he could collect just a little bit of chakra to at least activate the Sharingan, he could scare her, have her acknowledge his greatness and out of fear let him stay in peace.

Nope. Not happening, no matter how much he strained his body, it was as if he has never even been a shinobi.

Giving up, he let a long sigh come out of his mouth and went on with doing the dishes.

Well, at least that stupid girl will have her house chores done right for once, he was very good at those – not to brag, but he was very good at everything.

Ever since he was a child, having strict parents, he was taught to clean, cook, even to sew, for no one knows what kinds of situations to expect out on the battlefield. He certainly didn't expect to become a cleaning maid in some weird world, so all that knowledge won't go to waste, after all.

However, it's been seven days already that he has been in this place and panic has started to creep into his thoughts. He needed to find a way to go back home, yet he had no idea where to even start.

"I'm home!" He heard Shizu sing from the door.

Making a fine roll with his eyes, he thought about how annoying her voice was. While she spoke normally it was fine, but when she got excited or – save us – made an attempt to sing, he seriously considered pulling his hair out.

She must have been the strangest person he's ever seen.

Every morning, she would shamelessly prance around in her undergarments, and that made him extremely uncomfortable. For the first day or two, he thought that she just forgot about him being there, but no. She still did that after seven days.

Every day, she would wear tight, pretty clothes and put on a lot of make-up, then go somewhere. And she would come back home at approximately same time each day.

When he asked, she said she's going to work, and that only confused him further. Some women of his clan also worked, even though most were housewives, but for work one's supposed to wear something comfortable that will let them be productive.

So, he came to conclusion that she was a prostitute. That was the only logical explanation, right? She did mention something called 'bank', but perhaps that was what they called brothels here?

Who cares, anyway?

"I bought you something!" Shizu exclaimed, lifting a paper bag, so Madara could see it.

"What is that?" He asked, confusion displayed on his face, but it disappeared in a moment as the bag was thrown into his direction and he had to catch it.

"Hurry, try it on."

The paper bags contained two pairs of pants and two tops, along with smaller pieces of clothes that he recognized to be undergarments for men.

"Why? ..." He looked at Shizu questionably, for he had clearly missed the point where they started exchanging presents.

"You're pitiful while washing and drying those rags of yours every day. Also, we need to find your home, and if I'll be seen with you, you will not look like a caveman."

One pair of pants was very comfortable and Madara liked it a lot – wearing it to battle would be convenient. On the other side, the other pair was horrible. It was very tight, the fabric was rough and it made his legs look like those of a woman.

Both tops were fine, one was simple and made of cotton and another one was of some thin material, with buttons and it went all the way up to his neck.

"Are you done?" He heard Shizu call from the other room.

He went out, standing at the door frame, feeling exposed as her eyes kept scanning him up and down.

"You actually look good."

Was that supposed to be a compliment? – Madara's inner voice rambled, but he made no effort to speak.

"Okay, sit down." She said, taking a seat herself and patting the one he was supposed to take.

"We have been getting along surprisingly well, but it's really about time for you to leave. Is there someone – anybody – we can contact who would know where your home is? Family, friend, enemy – anyone!"

The crease between Madara's eyebrows deepened – let's be real, it's always there.

During these seven days, they had had this conversation at least three times a day. It would go on until they started to yell at each other.

It was mission impossible to explain to her that he had no one in this place – he was from a different side of the world, of universe, probably even from a different dimension. You never know with Sharingan.

"I already told you. Nobody."

"Are you sure about that? How—That just can't be possible! You have nobody familiar around here, you have no ID, you have no phone, you have no job—"

"I have a job, I'm shinobi."

Shizu gave him a pitying stare. "I mean a job you didn't make up. How can a person have no personal document? You have absolutely no proof that you actually exist!"

"That is what I'm telling you the entire time! I do not exist, not here!"

"Then why are you in front of me!?"

"Because I misused my Sharingan!"

"Eye prowess again? You are an otaku freak! You probably had some accident on a cosplay party or something and got amnesia, but that craziness stayed! Who knows if Madara Uchiha even is your name!?"

As he was about to talk back again, Madara felt that the adrenaline from argument had awoken something inside of him. As if power had started to surge through his body again.

He tried – and this time he did it – he activated the Sharingan.

"Ever heard of eye-contacts?" Shizu said, clearly not amused. However, Madara had more in the store.

Making a hand sign for Fireball Jutsu, he suppressed his chakra so it wouldn't grow too large. He directed it to the paper bag that laid on the floor, and the thing flared up and was swallowed by flames within few seconds.

With eyes still bloody red, he turned to look at Shizu. "Do you believe me yet, or do I have to burn you this time around?"

She did not answer, but her expression and fearful gaze told him everything he needed to know. He let the Sharingan get deactivated.

"I don't want to harm you, but if you again call me crazy or otaku, whatever that meant, I am going to make you regret that you ever opened you mouth in my presence."

Then, confusion overcame all of the other potential expressions he may have had displayed on his face. "Is your nose bleeding?" He asked the obvious, which he usually did not have the habit to do.

The girl sniffed, wiping the tiny trail of blood off. "Yeah, sorry. It's only that – just now you were so sexy."

Sexy!?

"Whatever." Madara sighed, obviously devastated because of the fact that instead of powerful and scary, she found him sexy.

"I believe you now. I mean, I guess I do. Nobody I know here can make fire come out of their mouth."

This lifted his spirit slightly. At least she wouldn't bother him with all those strange questions anymore. And now that she's seen his power he would not have to do any more house chores.

Would he?


	4. Chapter 4

One would think that once he was able to use his Sharingan again, Madara could go home. But no, it wasn't nearly as simple as that.

Firstly, he had no idea what had he actually done to send himself to this world. It was not something he had learned how to do, it was just a mistake.

No matter what he attempted to do with his eyes, all he got out of it was a headache.

Six months have passed and during that time a lot happened. He met some of Shizu's friends, went to her workplace, got to know the town better; simply got used to this new life and all that comes with it.

Shizu decided that she can't support them both with only her earning the money – even though he pointed out the valid fact that she could if only she stopped wasting so much on clothes and cosmetic – so she thought it was time for him to get personal documents in order to get a job too.

That turned out to be an awfully long and stressful process, but they did it in the end. More than ever, he felt truly blessed to have been born as an Uchiha. Thanks to Sharingan, he had managed to get things done much easier.

After countless arguments Madara succeeded in getting Shizu to let him have his way and get diploma in medicine, for surgery.

And even though the stupid girl dared to doubt him, he was soon accepted in local ambulance, having impressed his new employer. He knew everything there was to possibly know about human body; he knew a hundred different ways to save it and even more to kill it off.

"Let's go out today, it's Sunday." Shizu said in bored voice while flipping through TV channels, her body unnaturally curved on the couch but she was too lazy to move.

"And Sunday implies that we have to go out?" Madara talked back, even gloomier than the girl. Even though he wanted to get something done, the stupid television kept keeping his attention. He swore to himself that he'll do all it takes to prevent that thing from getting used in his world – that is, if he ever goes back.

He could metaphorically hear Shizu roll her eyes at his answer.

"Nah, but it's both our day off, we should make some use of it."

"Then you better clean this place up a little and do something productive instead. However, if you insist on going to town, go with your friends as always. Don't bother me." He reasoned.

"But you never go anywhere! Even when you got your first paycheck you just bought some clothes and food and nothing else. Enjoy the money, or at least let _me_ enjoy it!"

"Just take as much as you want and go!"

"Oh, I will, but you're coming with me!"

 _No_ , he did not want to come with her and _yes_ , he did come. Embarrassingly, he let himself get dragged out by useless, tiny woman. If only his father could see him now…

"I wonder what we should do…" Shizu mumbled under her breath as they walked down the road, slowly making their way towards town square.

"You could have at least planned some activities before dragging me along like that."

"Let's go see a movie!" She exclaimed, ignoring his protests.

"Nothing we couldn't have done at home."

"True." She sighed in submission, slumping her shoulders.

As they walked on in silence, Madara busied himself with thinking what he would be doing at the moment if he was home. Most of the time, the answer was training. He used every available moment to work on his strength, while here he would hardly get a chance to spend some energy.

At home, there was always something to do. If he wasn't training or they weren't in battle, he would help his parents around the house. His mother would have Izuna and him do housework and plant flowers for her.

Some days, in the evening, if he managed to sneak out he'd meet Hashirama and go drinking. The other days he'd spend with Izuna, either drinking or playing with random girls.

Now, he found himself truly missing those moments. Even fighting in battle looked better than wasting his time in front of a TV. In battles, he knew what he's fighting and potentially dying for. Here, even going to work was pointless for him.

It wasn't where he belonged.

"Amusement park!" Shizu's sudden exclamation had him snap out of his deep thoughts.

"What?"

"It's super fun! Let's go over there." She added, grabbing his forearm with her both hands and leading the way. And again, he let himself get pulled along.

Apparently, Shizu's definition of fun were gigantic colorful machines from which they could hear screams of terrified people.

Anyway, even though he didn't understand why they had to do exactly that, he didn't bother to complain as she led him to the particular machine that she said was called Roller Coaster.

Now that he was seated in a wagon, he saw that it was all secured and it was unlikely anyone would actually get hurt, but he still found it ridiculous that they were paying money just to get scared.

As the machine began moving, Madara did feel certain tension and it was getting more and more intense as it was going very high and then suddenly went downhill in the full speed.

People screamed, laughed and somewhere behind him someone seemed to be crying. It all contributed to growing adrenaline and even _he_ felt a little lightheaded for not being on his own feet.

The wagon kept rapidly changing directions, going up and down and then in circles, all in a very high speed.

He looked over at Shizu as she was mumbling uncomprehensive words between amused screams and his eyes caught an unsettling detail: her safety belt was damaged. The curves of the Roller Coaster made it move too and it was a matter of seconds before it could get completely detached.

Madara looked down to see how much longer the ride would last, but it did not seem to be ending too soon. The situation imposed that it needed to be over immediately.

Another high hill was about to pass and as soon as the wagon went downhill Shizu's belt let up and fell out, leaving her spot with absolutely no safety restrictions.

Without even having a moment to think situations through, Madara needed to react right away. He pushed up his own safety belt and grabbed Shizu's hand tightly, as she stared at him in panic and confusion.

After concentrating chakra in his feet he stood up. He wrapped his arm tightly around the girl's waist to keep her in place and finally, he jumped out of the wagon.

Once he could feel the hard ground underneath his feet, he breathed out in relief. He looked around, ready to be stared and pointed at by the people, but instead he saw a kunai flying his way.

He avoided it, quickly adapting to another change: _he was back home_.

After half a year with no practice he had gotten slightly rusty, but was, as expected, still better than the worms surrounding him.

"Madara!? What have you done?! What the hell is this?!" He heard Shizu's voice screaming for him somewhere in the background.

 _Shizu?_

Following the direction where the voice came from, he could see her. She was down on the ground, attempting to back away from the battle that was raging everywhere around them.

A shinobi appeared behind her, his sword up in the air, ready to cut.

Madara lunged forward, throwing himself at the enemy and making them both fall harshly to the ground. He rolled over, ending on top of the other man and after short struggle showed his kunai deep into the other one's throat.

The enemy shook for few moments before his body became calm and limp underneath Madara's weight.

He stood up, making his way over to Shizu to see if she's fine but she was not in the same spot anymore. He scanned the area for few moments and finally spotted her running figure in the distance.

Was she _trying_ to get killed or something? He ran after her.


	5. Chapter 5

"What the hell is happening?!" Shizu whispered unsettlingly, looking over Madara's shoulder every now and then in fear that somebody will come for them.

"The battle is happening obviously. I finally succeeded in going home, but you butted in." He talked back, crossing his arms over his chest. He knew that she just happened to be there – it wasn't her fault – but he still cursed his fate.

"Why would you do such a dumb thing and get me out of a wagon in the middle of a ride?!" Shizu waved her hands around in frustration.

"It wasn't safe! Your belt was broken. I saved your life, you should thank me, not complain about it."

The girl held her forehead. "Madara, the belt is there just in case. Most roller coasters don't even have belts! You did such a needless thing!"

Sighing, she plopped down on the ground. "How am I supposed to get back home now?!"

"We'll talk about that later." Madara brushed her off. "I have to go back for now. I'll send a shadow clone with you to take you back to Uchiha compound."

She went along with whatever he said, not even surprised by anything anymore.

The field was much emptier than before and the enemy clan was pushed back about at least five hundred meters. Madara was about to join and help to ward them off even farther and secure the Uchihas' victory, but he was stopped by one of the clansmen.

"Madara-sama? You should come." He said, signalizing to Madara to follow along, and so he did.

"What happened?"

"It's… Izuna-sama. He's critical."

 _No_.

Madara felt his heartbeats getting stronger and stronger until he could almost clearly hear them in his ears. Panic was making its way into his senses and only one thought roamed his mind: _He wasn't there_.

He stumbled, barely able to see the man as he walked behind him. "Is he going to die?" He somehow choked out, his body tensing at the word _die_.

His question was answered by silence.

He's seen a lot of death, he's caused a lot of death, but this was Izuna. His blood. His only brother. His _everything_.

"In here." The man told him as they reached a tent for the wounded. Without hesitation Madara barged in, his eyes searching for his brother.

Izuna was lying on a thin cushion, barely alive. The only way Madara could tell he's still present were quick, but very short heaves of his chest. He rushed over to the latter, kneeling down and grabbing his hand.

"Izuna?" He called out, tightening his grip on the boy's hand to which his eyelids moved, but he didn't speak nor open his eyes. "You can't die yet." Madara continued, now at least knowing that Izuna could hear his words.

"We have so much left to do. Our… plans will all go to waste if you die." The tears were now stinging his eyes as he fought to hold them back. He couldn't even think of something normal and appropriate to say, knowing that this could as well be the end for Izuna.

The first tear he let to fall was like a trigger that pulled the others after it and he let go of Izuna, moving away from his lying figure and back into the corner of the tent.

From there, he cried like a child for the first time in a decade, watching his brother at the edge of life and hoping nobody will come in and see him in his misery.

Shizu sat next to the _cloned_ Madara, trying to act as if she didn't feel the stares on her back.

She was brought to some small village, filled with people who all looked like they were related to Madara. Same eyes, same hair color, same cold faces.

Somehow they made it to his house, but she would not have any peace there either, as it was filled with people too. Since they wore simpler clothes than the others, she concluded they must have been house help or something.

This guy could actually really be noble? _Shit_.

"So… can you speak?" She attempted to strike a conversation as an uncomfortable silence started spreading in the air between her and the clone.

"Of course I can." It sounded offended. "I am a shadow clone, not a puppet."

"Sorry, geez."

"Forget it. My job here is done." It added before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Shizu got up and stretched, then decided to help herself and get a bath. "Hey, you? Girl?" She called over a young woman about her age. "Can you show me to bathroom? I need to wash up."

In response, the woman bowed slightly. _Damn, this feels good._

"And can I get some clothes too? I kind of have nothing else to wear."

"Of women clothing, I only have my own, but they are for servants." The girl explained slowly.

"It will do." Shizu smiled, following after the other.

Everything about this place was very primitive, even people.

For example this help-girl, whose name was Rukia by the way; She walked slowly and gazing at the ground as if she has done something wrong. She spoke very silently and slowly, and for a moment Shizu was wondering if Rukia thought of her as a simpleton who needed to be talked to like that. But, ultimately, she let it go.

Speaking of primitive, the girl had to heat the water over fire before making a bath! Was this like medieval age or something? No wonder Madara was freaking out over every little thing he saw back at her home.

In about half an hour it was all done and Shizu was now prancing around the house, her hair wet and wearing a slightly washed-out red kimono.

Since Madara kept bragging about his family and status, she expected him to live in some luxurious place. Even if it was old-style, she thought it would be all colorful with bunch of ornaments and other kitsch.

Instead, it was a simple wooden house, poorly traditionally decorated.

She raised her arm to touch a painting that was hanging on the wall, but in a mere moment she was pulled away from it and shoved against the wooden wall. Her back did not collide gently with it.

"Ow! What was that for?!" She raised her voice, setting her eyes upon the culprit, whom she was already guessing was Madara.

"Because of you… my brother is dying." He told her, glaring into her eyes. His own have changed color – she's seen this _something-gan_ thing before.

"Me?" Shizu stared back at him dumbstruck. "Are you insane?! I didn't even know you had a brother. Get out of the way."

She pushed herself away from the said wall, about to go on about her business, but was yanked back.

"If I hadn't been wasting my time on you, I could have saved him! I should have just let you get killed!"

It took Shizu a few moments to process his words.

"You're extremely ungrateful." She said, the unfairness and anger creating a lump in her throat, so that she did not even have the nerve to yell at him for his behavior.

There were many things she wished to say though. _That's not my problem; I never asked you to come after me; I don't give a fuck about your brother._ However, none of it would come out as those red eyes bore into her.

"If he dies, so will you."

With that final threat, he walked away, leaving Shizu alone in the boring, ugly room.

Crouching down, she hugged her knees and contemplated just how bad her circumstances were. _I wanna go home_. She thought, as the lump in her throat kept growing.


	6. Chapter 6

In the end, the boy died.

Shizu had seen him briefly. What a shame, he was so young and cute.

Anyway, even though Madara had threatened to kill her if his brother dies, he still did nothing to her and it's been over three weeks.

She actually hadn't seen him since the funeral and while a part of her was relieved, the other part wondered if he's doing well. He seemed to be very close to his brother, and at the funeral he was obviously devastated even though he didn't shed a single tear.

And when did he plan to take her back home?! She couldn't possibly stay in this medieval place for much longer.

"Where does Madara stay?" She asked Rukia, as the girl went around, doing her chores. The two of them had gotten acquainted a little bit better since they have been sharing a room ever since Shizu arrived. She didn't dare appear before Madara after his threat, so she went to Rukia for help.

"His bedroom is the last one down the hall." The girl answered. She seemed to have relaxed around Shizu now, seeing how she obviously wasn't some important guest since her mean host ignored her completely.

"I'm going to see him." She said, getting up and slowly making her way out of the room and down the hall, trying to sort out her thoughts. When she finally did make it to the door of Madara's room, she stood there for good five minutes before chickening out and deciding to leave, but – her luck – it slid open just then.

Shizu stiffened, not daring to even turn around and face him. She heard him close the door and make a step towards her.

Maybe he was less angry now after few days? _Another step_. Maybe he finally accepted that she wasn't the one to blame? _Another one_.

What if it's gotten worse? What if he blames her even more now?! She held her breath as he moved on, but contrary to all of her predictions, he walked right past her, not bothering to even spare her a single glance.

He was ignoring her.

Well, better than going through with his threat – she was honestly grateful for that, but she still needed to get back home and that wasn't possible without him.

"Okay, this is bullshit. Don't pretend that you can't see me." She called after him in her best, most confident voice, which was barely trembling. She knew very well what he could do – she's seen him kill a man with her own eyes. If he snaps, he might do the same to her.

He stopped walking, but wasn't bothered to turn around and look at her.

"I let you live. What else do you want?" He asked dryly. He was tired and his usually deep and clean voice sounded hoarse.

"I want to go home! Don't go forgetting about me now. You dragged me here and now you have to return me." She pointed a finger at him accusingly.

"Fine."

As if it wasn't the Uchiha Madara she was speaking to. Why was he so calm and silent? Was he sick?

"Madara-", She started, but was interrupted as he grabbed her hand and pulled her back into his room. She wanted to protest and demand the reason behind his actions, but then she heard steps echoing through the hallway. Her gaze met Madara's and he had his index finger over his lips as to silence her.

She finally got to see his face now. His eyes were tired and a little bloody, dark circles beneath them; his face was paler than usual, his lips were dry and cracked.

He was in a horrible state, mourning harder than she knew. Now, she felt bad for being insensitive.

However, the steps stopped right outside of the door and she caught Madara rolling his eyes.

In few moments another man had joined them in the room. Tall, with short black hair covering a side of his face, probably twice as old as her but still undeniably handsome.

"Father." Madara greeted, in a not-very-excided-to-see-you tone.

Shizu felt that she had gotten caught in between them as they were obviously about to argue over something, the tension was weighing down on her, so she slowly but surely started making her way for the door. It can wait – whatever she needed to say to Madara, it can wait. His father seemed even scarier than him and she didn't want to be there anymore.

"This is who you brought." The older man asked, but it sounded more like a statement, as he watched her backside.

"Yes." Madara replied dryly.

The door was two steps away, but before Shizu could reach it a warm, gentle yet strong hand landed on her shoulder. She looked back in slow motion, waiting to see what the man wanted. She swallowed a big lump inside her throat.

Did Madara tell him it was her that he was with when his brother died? Oh no! She was cornered like a rat, she couldn't even run!

What's next? Punishment? Prison?

Death penalty? The boy was freaking important, she was totally fucked up!

"Forgive me, I never welcomed you properly." He started. "I am Madara's father, Uchiha Tajima."

He was apologizing. To _her_?

"Oh! Oh, it's alright." She forced a smile and bowed down so low her thighs muscles stretched painfully. "I found my way around anyway."

"Where are you staying? Madara hosted you well?"

Tell the truth or not?

"Yes!" She nodded her head way more than necessary, even though Madara definitely did nothing to host her well. "I'm staying with Rukia."

Tajima raised an eyebrow at her answer, but he didn't seem overly surprised. "With a servant." He finally said, turning away from her on his heel and facing Madara, who was standing in the same spot as before and returned the man's gaze with open contempt.

Why were they like this?!

Shizu's mouth was getting dry as she struggled to find some kind of explanation, she didn't want to get Madara in trouble, for that meant she'll be in trouble too.

"A-As soon as we came, he found out about his brother's death – My condolences, ah, sir! –" She bowed quickly again, before continuing, "So… He got bus—"

"He blamed you, didn't he?" Tajima stopped her babbling with the question. He made his way over to Madara, standing only a few inches away from him. "He always tended to blame others. When his other siblings died, he blamed me, if he got hurt he blamed me, when his Sharingan got weak he blamed me, and now, for Izuna's incompetence, he blames you."

Shizu could see that Madara's whole body stiffened at his father's words. They even made Shizu surprised. Izuna really was his child, yet he spoke so easily of his death?

Her breath hitched as he slapped Madara across the face with much force. She never saw that coming!

Madara simply stared back at him with unchanged expression, but she could only imagine how angry he was. It had to hurt a lot, but he didn't move.

Tajima turned back to her as if nothing out of ordinary happened. "I will have servants arrange you a proper room. Good night."

"Good night…" Shizu whispered back, eagerly waiting for him to leave the room. As his figure got lost behind the closed doors and his steps gradually went silent, she returned to Madara.

"I can't help you right now. I'll let you know once I begin using the Sharingan again." He spoke immediately, without her even asking. In fact, that wasn't even what she was thinking of at the moment. She instinctively took a step closer to him.

"How are you feeling?" She asked silently, her eyes taking in his worn-out state. How did this happen to him?

"Leave. I said I'll let you know when the time comes." He headed for the door, probably to open it and kick her out, but stopped as her hand caught his. "What ar-", His voice died down as she hugged his waist. Her arms wrapped themselves tightly around his torso, her head on his chest, he could hear her breathe and feel her own heartbeats against his ribcage.

"I'm sorry for your loss." She mumbled out so he barely heard it.

In all honesty, it felt good to have her close – not exactly because it was her, but rather just someone, anyone. For the first time since Izuna died, he felt like he hasn't been left all alone in the world, even if it lasted for only a moment.

"What is it to you?" He pried her hands off of himself, stepping back to look down at her.

"You're a crazy, cold asshole. It's scary seeing you like this." Again, since Izuna passed away, for the first time, a small smirk appeared on his lips.

He agreed, though. It scared him too.


	7. Chapter 7

"You're making everyone uncomfortable. Just give it a try and stay calm for once." Shizu lectured as Madara and herself walked down the hall, about to have dinner with the rest of the household.

It's been a while since she's witnessed his fight with Tajima, and since then she tried her best to keep him from getting into any more conflicts; surprisingly, he would sometimes even listen to her.

Now he seemed to be doing a lot better. There were still times when he just sat in a corner by himself, silent and deep in his own thoughts with that sad and angry expression, but mostly, he was fine.

Still as salty and grouchy as ever.

He often busied himself with training, which meant he spent most of the day on the small equipped terrain, running around and throwing things like a madman.

Few times actually, Shizu accompanied him to just watch since she had nothing to do anyway, but he "banished her" – yes, the jerk literally used that term – because she was apparently _disconcerting_ him. She was simply attempting to make a small-talk so the time would pass faster, but he had to bitch about it as he did about anything else.

"It's not up to me. It's up to him." Madara talked back grumpily, referring to his father.

"Just keep that mouth of yours shut and let everyone eat in peace." Shizu didn't step back.

Honestly, she was in wonder by how much Madara respected his father. Sure, they argued and bickered, but he never raised his voice at the older man, nor did he ever return any of the man's physical attacks unless they were practicing. It was strange seeing him being submissive in front of anyone. And truth be told, deep inside she enjoyed the sight. Still, it was very uncomfortable being around the two men while they fought.

"Be good." She pointed a finger at him as they reached the door of the dining room.

"I'm not a child!" He barked at her, sliding the door open and pompously walking to his seat. Annoyingly, everyone had their respective spot at the table, so while Madara sat at the top right corner – right next to Tajima, who was at the head – Shizu was put at the second last chair on the left side.

The food was served very soon, so she dived in, hoping to eat as much as she can before the atmosphere gets too uncomfortable.

She got her hopes up at first, as people were casually chatting for whole ten minutes, but as soon as the head of the clan opened his mouth, she knew what's going to happen.

"Say, Madara, do you even plan to avenge your brother?" Tajima spoke, taking a small bite of his food right after. For some reason, he insisted on provoking Madara whenever they happened to be in the same room.

"I do, father." Madara answered, exasperation already sensible in his voice. They all knew where this would lead: Tajima would bring up some Senju folk that Shizu knew nothing of, then Madara would argue how he'd do whatever he had to do, then Tajima would accuse Madara of procrastinating for the sake of some Hashirama dude and so on, and so on.

 _And it began._

"You wanted to befriend a Senju. This is how he returns the favor. Every single person from that clan is vile."

"Will you let it go?" Madara sighed. "I was a child, and I didn't even know that he was a Senju."

"You knew he's not one of us! Wasn't that enough to stay away from him?"

"That kind of mindset was what brought us this chaos! I was making a change." Madara defended.

"Obviously, you failed! Your brother—"

"Can a person eat one fucking meal in fucking peace in this fucking house?" Shizu mumbled to herself, wearily stabbing the food with her chopsticks.

Well, _she thought_ she had mumbled it to herself, apparently her words were audible. They were _very_ audible, since everyone's attention was from once fixed on her. She stopped playing with her food.

 _Shit_.

After a minute or two of awkward silence, the conversation among people at the table went on normally, and Shizu tried her best to sink into her seat as deep as she could and keep low profile while avoiding eye contact with anyone.

After the dinner was over, she quickly excused herself and got lost as fast as possible. _No, no_. She would just lock herself up in her room and die, for she fucked up beyond comprehension this time.

She whispered curses and cringed to herself while walking to her bedroom, and failed to notice that someone was at her door already.

"I know, I'm sorry. I screwed up." She whined at Madara, assuming he was there to scold her for disrespecting his father like that. Hell, even his own son watched his behavior before Tajima, and she, an outsider, basically made him shut his mouth at his own dining table.

All she got in response was a low chuckle. Followed by another one, which was followed by yet another one before the insolent jerk started laughing.

Shizu stared at him with her most, grave serious expression. "This isn't funny, Madara."

Though, her words had no effect. He continued to laugh like a maniac to the point where he bent down and held his stomach. Honestly, it was a little scary. She had never even seen him smile properly, so this took her by surprise.

"Okay, stop!" She moaned in distress.

It took him a while to completely calm down and finally face her. He used his index finger to wipe a tiny tear from the corner of his right eye. "This was the best." He finally spoke, amusement never leaving his voice.

"What was the best?!" Shizu snapped. "I embarrassed myself and offended your father! How am I supposed to look at him now?"

"Oh yes, you did." She puffed her cheeks in anger as he started laughing again.

"Get out of the way!" She stormed into her room and locked the door.

Madara sat on the wooden porch, facing the training field as he waited for his food to settle before going to train.

Soft steps tapped against the wood as someone was making their way over to him from behind. Without turning around, he recognized it to be Rukia.

The girl placed a saucer with two cups of tea right next to Madara, bowed her head slightly and left. _Here we go_. He thought to himself. Tajima would come to bother him again. Still, a tiny smirk made its way to his face as he imagined how pissed the older man might be after Shizu's little outbreak.

In only a few minutes, the familiar bat of his father's steps resonated through the house until the man finally reached the porch and took a seat next to Madara.

He was silent.

 _What do you want now? Get lost_. Madara's thoughts whined, but he refrained from voicing them out. As much as he despised his father at times, Tajima was still the most notable man and one of the greatest warriors that he knew.

"She is right. I overdid it." He finally spoke. Madara understood that he was referring to Shizu. He didn't answer.

"You are…" Tajima seemed to have a problem with speaking his mind, which was unlikely for him. "As your father, I naturally want you to excel in every field and make me proud. That is the only reason I'm pushing you."

He paused to take a sip of his tea, but Madara could tell that he only took the opportunity to come up with something else to say.

"You have become a fine man, but you're still naïve. The way you trust the Senju shows just how green you still are."

"I do not trust them. I simply—"

"In any case, Madara," Tajima interrupted him mid-sentence. "I understand that you find me bothersome, but now that we lost Izuna, you are all I have left."

Madara looked the man in the eyes as he listened. Even though his expression remained stoic, a child inside of him was put on roller-coaster of emotions. For finally, after many years, this person felt like his dad again.

"That is all." Tajima added as he stood up. "I'll leave you to train now."

"Father?" Madara called after him as he was already about to enter the house.

"Hm?"

"Care to spar?"


	8. Chapter 8

The day was beautiful, yet Shizu had nothing to do. She lied in the sun, stretching like a cat and yawning like a monkey every once in a while.

She tried helping Rukia with her chores but the vile girl shunned her away saying she was inconvenient. She'd make sure Tajima hears of that! How dare she? Rukia's mother tried teaching her to do embroidery for that was apparently what they did for fun around here. It was boring as shit, and it looked like shit too, and she cut her finger while at it!

Let us rephrase that first sentence: The weather was beautiful, the day sucked.

Madara was away. He and Tajima made a big deal of this day, although she didn't really grasp what was happening since she wasn't listening. Madara was going to attack that _Hashirima_ boy or something. It didn't even matter. They left before dawn and it was already afternoon.

Finally, she decided to go and take a walk around this village, camp, whatever it was. She couldn't keep counting on Madara for entertainment since she had no idea when he'd come back.

It was pretty crowded as she walked, people were loud; some were selling their goods, others were buying, some were just walking around much like herself.

Every now and then a pair or two of curious eyes would linger upon her for a few seconds, but mostly, everyone was minding their own business. They had seen her before, accompanied by Madara and Tajima, so they have obviously decided not to question it any further.

"Whoa!" Her mouth watered at the sight of delicious sweets that were being sold at the nearby stand. She checked to see if Madara had given her enough money, then went closer to buy some.

"I'll have five wagashi _s_." She smiled excitedly, leaving some coins on the counter and waiting for the man who worked to finish packing the sweets for her.

Once she had everything ready, she went on with her slow walk, eating her wagashi and enjoying the sun's warmth.

 _Yeah_ , she had managed to fit in somehow and she did get used to this place to some point, but she was still restlessly trying to figure out a way to get back home. Now she could clearly understand what Madara felt like while he was staying with her.

And also, it made her even more uneasy that he made no effort to even bring the matter up. Ever since a few weeks ago when she just met his father, they never spoke of her going back home.

Staying forever in this medieval place would not even be so problematic itself if not for all the things and obligations she had back at home. By now, she's totally jobless – like, who'd stand it if their employee stopped coming to work out of the blue?

Then, her family and friends were probably making chaos in search for her and it could get very weird once she's back. How was she supposed to explain where she's been all this time?!

 _Right_ , she went time-travelling with her ninja roommate! They would lock her up in an asylum!

As soon as Madara comes back she would bombard him with demands to take her home. Apparently, he had changed his eyes – they had this weird custom – since his brother died and his own _someshit-gan_ was getting weak, they gave the late boy's eyes to him. That explains why he couldn't be seen around for a while after the funeral.

Anyway, since he had new eyes, he was unsure whether he would even be able to pull off that time travel thing he had done before. Apparently, it could have just been something that was happening because his old eyes weren't working well.

 _Good lord!_ All of that seemed like a bad joke.

"Oi!" She whined as someone ran past her rashly, causing her to drop her wagashi. Now she had only three left!

"They're back—" She heard another passer-by say, so she hurried after the crowd, already guessing that Madara must have returned.

 _Oh, man_. It seemed like another moody week was ahead. Both Madara and Tajima, along with several other men beside them, looked as if they have collectively been pissed on. In addition to that, Madara looked pretty beaten up, and Tajima was obviously angry.

If she bribes him with some wagashi, maybe he'd be in mood to talk about getting her back home? Although, it was very unlikely.

…

Madara couldn't exactly pinpoint which part of his body hurt most. But generally said, it would have to be his brain. His father wouldn't stop nagging and making his pains worse than they already were.

There were two reasons for this, so he screwed up twice. _Firstly_ , he lost a fight to Hashirama, thus failing to avenge his brother's death. _And_ _secondly_ , he had decided to bury the war hatchets with the Senju and work together with Hashirama to accomplish what they had always dreamed of – to build their own village and finally make peace.

He was very agitated about the first one, himself. But the second seemed like a good twist of fate, even though he still had many doubts.

"Go get your wounds taken care of, then come to see me." Tajima ordered, speeding up his pace and walking on home.

Madara really didn't want to deal with the man at the moment (nor ever, for that matter), but it's not like he had a choice. He did as he was told and in about thirty minutes he was at the door of their meeting room.

As he had guessed, Tajima had all the clansmen of influence be there already, obviously wanting them to back him up as he denies anything Madara might say or suggest.

It was silent for a minute, before one of the elders spoke up.

"We're listening, Madara. Explain yourself." The old bat looked down on him, obviously disapproving of what he had done.

"I'm going to unite forces with the Senju and ensure better and safer future for new generations." He put it simply. They all knew what the plan originally was, it was pointless to even waste time on prosecuting him like this.

"Something like that has never been done before. It's ridiculous to think we can just mend out relations with the Senju overnight!" Tajima jumped in, crossing his arms and glaring down at Madara.

The latter sighed, not bothering to hide how much they went on his nerves. "It was never even attempted. All you've ever done was fight whoever we came upon. In _your_ care, we lost half of our clansmen."

The silence he got in response encouraged him to continue.

"Soon enough I will be the head of this clan, and I don't plan to send any more of our children to fight – and neither does Hashirama. That's a good beginning." He smiled cockily at them "Besides, it's already been done. To draw back on it now would surely cause new riots and, as you know, we're not in any condition for that."

He waited for any of them to add something and since they all remained silent, he turned around and strolled back to his room. Hell, was he in pain.

He literally found himself daydreaming of hot bath and a nap, but as he opened the door of his bedroom, yet another obstacle showed up.

"What are you doing in my room?" He glared at Shizu, while she lied lazily on _his_ bed.

"I was waiting to ask when you'll take me home."

 _Right_ , he had to return her. He wasn't really excited for the fact, he's gotten used to her – more than he should have – especially after Izuna died. Still, it wasn't up to him to decide whether she stays or goes.

"There will soon be a meeting with the Senju clan and probably ceremony if everything goes well. It wil—"

"Candy?" She interrupted him mid-sentence, shoving some in her own mouth.

Madara went closer to her, but instead of taking just the candy, he took her whole hand in his own. She clearly tensed, obviously taken back by his gentle gesture. So was he, but he had to speak his mind.

"I need you there." He stated seriously, gazing firmly into Shizu's eyes as her own glistered with fluster.

 _I n-need you?_ Madara actually said that? Shizu cleared her throat before speaking. "What do you mean?" She questioned, actually getting a little emotional – they had clearly became friends since he was counting on her like this.

"The whole clan is against me in this. I need _some_ kind of back-up, even if it's just you." He was quick to burst her bubble. "After that I will make sure to find a way to take you back."

"Now get out." He added, making his way into bathroom.


	9. Chapter 9

The big day went by smoothly, and Shizu looked forward to the night, hoping it would go just as well.

As Madara had predicted, a big ceremony was made around the two clans confirming their truce, and the reason Shizu was so eager for the night to fall was that there would be a party!

Most certainly, not the kind of party she and every other normal person had in mind, but probably some medieval weird shit. Yet, there was free food and alcohol, there was some traditional music playing in the background – it wasn't even that bad. She could always just pretend she was in some ethno themed park or something.

The only thing ruining the generally good atmosphere was the tension between the Uchiha and the Senju. It was to be expected, and Shizu certainly hoped that it would soon be washed away with alcohol.

She was not included in the tension since she belonged to neither of the clans, but still she allowed herself to drink just as much as the people who were.

Alcohol has been her only company the entire time – Madara was next to the long-haired guy who turned out to be _the Hashirama_. Honestly, she expected him to have a bigger presence, judging by all the things she heard about him and the way he actually beat Madara.

In reality, he was just plain and he had a stupid face. He greeted her nicely and he seemed like a decent guy overall, yet she disliked him. She had already created an image of him in her mind as a scary, bad guy who was to blame for all Madara's problems, so it would probably be a while before she lets go of that image.

The true "scary-bad-guy" seemed to be Hashirama's brother, Tobirama. He was the one who killed Izuna, so she heard.

The crowd, voices, music – it all seemed to pass by her in fast-forward mode as she was getting more wasted with every passing minute. Yeah, the alcohol here was actually homemade, not the half-water industrial crap that she would have back at home – and that's why it was thrice as strong.

She was accepted into company of few girls who were all about her own age and she struck with them for a while, having to explain who she was every time someone new would join their group. It was apparently very strange to them to be around someone who belonged to no clan.

She was sure they'd bore her to death, but that actually wasn't the case. They were pretty funny and she had managed to pick up some juicy gossips about people surrounding them. She had definitely underestimated them in her head.

"What!? Bullshit, I never noticed!" She gasped at the things one of the girls was telling her.

"Shhh. It's true, she confessed it to me herself." The girl assured her with a devious smile on her face. Shizu laughed loudly with her from the heart – she had no intention of using the sweet information she got from this conversation, but nevertheless she was always more than ready to hear a good slander.

The alcohol had slowed her reactions, so she barely noticed that she was suddenly being pulled away by her hand. It was like everything was happening in slow motion: the girl she was talking to suddenly going quiet, the grip on her wrist and the tall, spikey-haired silhouette before her.

 _Oh, it's just Madara_. She thought, letting herself get dragged away until they had reached a lonely spot in the dark shadows of many trees where he let go of her.

"You need to watch your behavior." He started lecturing her almost immediately. "I made you come and stay here in order to have some kind of backing in all this, not for you to get dead drunk and embarrass us all."

The tone of his voice as he scolded her and his scowling expression made Shizu smile bewilderedly. "I'm not dead drunk yet, I'm just getting started."

"I'm not joking."

"You never are."

"Just listen to me this one time. Can't you act as a normal woman just tonight?" He seriously looked like he was on the edge. He worried about the outcome of all this. There was still time for someone to sabotage all that's been done so far.

"This is supposed to be a party! And I'm bored!" She whined childishly, her cheeks red from drinking and the cold night air.

"Enough. If you can't get a hold of yourself get los—"

"Why is this fucking thing so uncomfortable?" She grumbled, fidgeting around her obi. "Oh…"

Literally all she did was pull one linen string from the bundle of fabric wrapped around her waist and it all let up and went to hell. The obi was quick to fall to the ground and without its clasp her kimono followed right after.

She looked at Madara and he returned her gaze, obviously confused and petrified. He had seen her a lot in her underwear since she wouldn't bother to care – but here there was no underwear. She was completely nude.

"What are you waiting for?! Cover yourself." He flared up, looking away from her.

"What are you, fifteen years old? I cannot tie this thing, Rukia does it for me." Shizu retorted, gathering the clothes and pulling them against herself to at least cover her private parts.

"For crying out loud…" Madara sighed, undoing his own waistband and sliding his own top off in order to put it on her. He also didn't know how to tie the obi for women.

Shizu dropped her rags back to the ground, waiting to take Madara's, but he halted from once. In only a moment, she was able to hear them too – the steps heading their way.

Before either of them could brace themselves and do anything, Rukia's figure came into their field of vision. The servant-girl was visibly trying to distinguish who were the people before her and what were they doing in this dark corner, and once she could finally see, it made a gasp escape her mouth.

"F-forgive me!" She bowed quickly and turned away to leave.

"Wait, Rukia! We could use a hand, come here!" Shizu called after her, but the girl only walked away faster. "What's her problem?" She mumbled drunkenly.

"Really?" Madara asked harshly, finally shoving his clothes into her arms and waiting for her to put it on so he could tie the waistband around it. Once she seemed to finally have realized what she had done, she let out a shrill laugh.

"It looked like I was inviting her for a threesome!" She threw her head back in amusement.

"Be still." Madara ordered, trying to tighten the band properly. He was obviously not enjoying this. "Are you not ashamed, the least?"

"Meh, who cares? She's not an angel herself." She lightened up suddenly. "Oh my God, you know what I heard today?!"

By now, he was finally done with fitting his clothes on her. "I don't care."

"Oh, you do!" She made a step closer to him like she wanted to whisper. "Rukia is fucking Tajima. They're in a relationship." She said scandalously, leaning her index finger against her lips as to say it's a secret.

"What?" Did he hear that well?

"Ah, perhaps you shouldn't know of that." She bit her lip nervously, but couldn't deny how amazing it felt to share the gossip.

"No, it's fine." He seemingly brushed the matter off. "Come, I'll take you to bed."

As they were leisurely making their way to his house, a very fine idea came to Madara's mind. He shall use Rukia. He didn't mind whatever affair his father might be having – he was a widower anyway – and if the relationship between him and the servant was serious then she could influence him not to cause trouble for Madara's plans with the Senju.

That would actually be perfect.

"Should I carry you?" He offered, seeing that Shizu was barely keeping herself awake now that she's been without any more alcohol for a while. She mumbled out a _"yes",_ wrapping her arms around his neck. He slid one arm under her knees and lifted her. In less than a few minutes she was asleep.

He walked slowly, working hard to suppress the thoughts that were stubbornly attacking him every once in a while. Tonight especially after all that happened and that was happening; the images were coming back and he unwillingly had to greet them; the mix of cold wind and Shizu's hot breath on his exposed skin did nothing to help.

He could not permit himself to get drawn any closer to her – letting people get too near was always a mistake – and she was somebody who would perish from his life very soon. Tomorrow, maybe or a few days later.

Like Izuna, except that he had Izuna's grave if he wished to remember him, nothing would remain after Shizu. Except regret and the feelings that he wouldn't even confess to himself he had.

Like a fool, he let his brother's death be an excuse for depending on someone else. And he depended on Shizu at the moment.

He was aware that she was useless to him on this ceremony, but he needed to know she's there.

Just like he was aware that he had passed the door of her chamber and was carrying her into his own. That it was his own bed he was lying her on, that it was only his clothes that covered her and brushed against her skin underneath. That all of this made both his heart and his groin ache at the same time.

It was a mistake, he knew and he cursed himself for it as he headed to take a cold shower.


	10. Chapter 10

The ceremony was over and the truce between the clans was officially established, but Madara knew the things were just about to get busy. There were so many plans to make and execute, there were so many things and people to organize, so many laws to set.

They had to work to build homes, institutions, markets. Everyone was completely new to most of those so they were kind of wandering in the dark. Yet, Madara couldn't deny he was excited – Hashirama, as per usual, wasn't even trying to hide his silly joy.

Madara had explained him that he may be gone for a few days, but he didn't bother to go into details. Finally, the time has come to fulfill his promise and take Shizu home.

After over-analyzing that strange ability of his to teleport back and forth, he had come to a conclusion that his Sharingan sent him to a different place whenever he was under a rush and adrenaline: first it was during a battle, and then when he jumped off that wagon. That was the only connection he had managed to find but it was all still so unclear.

First, he had spent a lot of time training after they had returned home – hell, right after they returned he was forced into a battle, yet he was not sent anywhere else.

It confused him, but he had made his promise and he was set to keep on trying until he succeeds in returning Shizu to where she belonged.

"And why did we have to go all the way to here?" She asked in protesting tone, following closely behind Madara and looking around herself and the huge forest he had led her into.

"In order to avoid unnecessary attention." He answered simply and stopped walking. "Don't gape around, watch where you're going." He scolded as she bumped into his back.

He lied his bag down and pulled out a rope. As he busied himself with unwrapping and fitting the rope, Shizu came closer and crouched down opposite of him, watching him at work.

"So if we fail, we hang ourselves?" She laughed, thinking she was very funny. All she got in response from the Uchiha was a yet deeper frown, but sure, he actually did find it to be a good joke.

"You suck." She whined, getting up and taking a small walk across the field they came to.

Once he was done with preparations, Madara called her over and started tying the rope around her. One end was tied around her waist and another around his own. Since she was staring at him as he had gone mad, he went to elaborate his actions.

"I still don't know exactly how the teleportation happens, so as I try different things you must stay connected to me."

…

A whole hour later, Madara was still doing his acrobatics; from breathing fire and making holes in the ground to throwing weapons at the poor, innocent trees. Yet, nothing was actually happening.

His eyes glowed red as he experimented with different hand-signs, but still, to no avail.

"What exactly do you think is needed to travel back?" Shizu asked, lazily following his moving figure with her eyes. This pointless waiting has gotten her sleepy.

"I'm not sure. Adrenaline, shock…" He answered, by now obviously grumpy because of the constant failing.

"What if _I_ do something to shock you?" She suggested, to which she received a skeptic glare from Madara. "I'm a shinobi. You wouldn't be able to shock me if you tr—What the hell?!" He yelled as she threw a pinecone at him, and another one right after.

As he was busy with cursing her and attempting to untangle the pinecones from his thick hair, Shizu's attention was stolen by a small linen bag lying right next to where she sat. It contained Madara's knives – or kunai – as he insisted on calling them.

She took a hold of one, feeling the cool touch of metal on the skin of her palm as her hand got used to the new object. It was unlikely that anyone would die after being hit with just that, but if Madara fails to dodge it he might get hurt and then she'd be officially done for ( _ahem_ , after all, he did receive the pinecones perfectly despite the big-talk about shinobi and shit).

Well, no risk – no profit. Shizu threw the kunai – not very precisely, but it still went into Madara's direction.

He had just finished getting the cones out of his hair and he had managed to spot the object coming his way right on time. In the blink of an eye he raised his arm to stop it, but it had managed to land a small cut on the side of his wrist.

In another blink of an eye, they were no longer in the forest. Instead, Shizu recognized that they were back at the amusement park, except that it was nighttime and the place was completely empty.

"It worked!" She exclaimed, prancing around happily. "Oh," she remembered then. "Did you get hurt?"

Madara was looking intensely at the tiny cut on his wrist and he seemed to be lost in deep thought.

"Hey, let me see." Shizu demanded softly, as she walked up to him and took his hand in order to examine her own doing. But she had only managed to glance down at it before he retrieved his arm almost rashly. "Does it actually hurt?" She asked, confused. It was merely a scratch, why would he act so upset?

"No. Don't touch me." His reply came very short and very cold. Well, it's not like motherly warmth radiated from him usually, but his current behavior _was_ strange. Was he angry that she risked it with the kunai?

"Look, I just wanted to try it out. We were wasting time back there." He still looked like he wasn't listening. "Madara?! Are you really sulking?"

Just then he seemed to snap out of it. "What the hell are you talking about?" He asked grumpily. Something had really set him off.

"Well, the kunai! I'm trying to apologize for throwing it at you! What are you spacing out for?"

"Never mind. Do it again." He turned his eyes red again and stood still before Shizu, waiting. "Here," he pulled another kunai from one of his secret cases and handed it to her.

"You're leaving just like that?" Shizu questioned, not believing his rudeness. They had spent almost a year basically living together! Despite his crappy character, she did consider him her friend and couldn't permit that they just disappear from each other's lives as if nothing ever happened.

"Yes. Hurry up." Madara rushed her, his facial expression more torpid than usual.

"No!" She whined, handing the knife back to him. "You told Hashirama you'll be gone for few days, so stay here for that time."

"What for?" He asked, eyeing the weapon but not taking it back. He had to leave right away – there was no more time to waste on her. He'll get home and get very busy, in less than a week he'll forget she ever existed. As minutes went by it was becoming harder for him to fight and conceal his freshly developed feelings and that made him angry. For that, he had to leave here as soon as possible.

"Well…" It seemed like Shizu herself did not quite know why she refused to let him leave. "Have some rest here before leaving. Uhm… Have a tour around the town, since you won't be seeing it again? We… We should have a proper goodbye too." She said the last thing as if it had only occurred to her at that moment.

"Goodbyes are a useless convention. Hurry up, my work is piling up as we speak." Could she be going through the same thing as he? Did she have those feelings too? That's why she held onto him?

"Ah, come on! Just two days or so. I have to face the wrath of my parents after disappearing without a trace, I don't want to do it alone." Her eyes glistered as she continued, "Did I not go to that ceremony for you? You owe me."

After all, it wasn't what he had thought. He needed to get rid of pretense – she did not want him the same way he wanted her.

"Two days, not a minute longer." He said strictly, having to admit defeat. He did owe her that one.

"Good." She smiled complacently. "Let's go home then."

…

Coming out of the steaming bathroom, Madara found Shizu sitting on the couch, eating an apple and staring at the television. She must have missed that damn machine a lot.

She was already in her pajamas, having taken her bath before him. He couldn't help but notice that she wasn't wearing her usual type of sleepwear. Commonly, it would be something silky and short; however, right now she was wearing a big, cotton bright yellow pajamas. It looked like something kids from TV commercials wore. _Ridiculous_.

He's referring to himself. _He_ was being ridiculous for finding her just as attractive in this attire as in shortest, most provocative one.

 _What the hell was wrong with him?_

"Look, there's a rock concert in the open tomorrow night! Wanna go?" She asked excitedly, pointing at the screen with her apple.

"I don't care for it, but if you want to go, I'll join you." Madara replied calmly. He didn't mind the offer actually. That – so called "rock" – music wasn't bad at all. Now he at least knew what it was, even though he still failed to see how it got such a stupid name. The first time he heard of it, since Shizu said "rock performance", he thought they're going to see public stoning.

"So is there anything you'd like to do before you leave?" She asked, not taking her eyes off the television screen.

Madara frowned yet again. There was only one thing he wanted to do here but it wasn't very likely he'd get to do it.

He was about to say "nothing" or "anything", but stopped himself in time. What would change even if he exposes his feelings for her? They still won't get to see each other ever again, and he really couldn't care less how she would think of him once they are parted for good.

"You." He said simply. His response silent but firm. He knew what he wanted and he wanted it so much.

He heard the dull sound of her almost finished apple hitting the carpet below them. "Wh- Excuse me?"

"I want to do you. May I?" Madara asked bluntly, looking her in the eyes. He did not hesitate, nor did he feel uneasy. Whatever response he gets from her, the outcome remains the same. After two days they will never see each other again.

If the response is positive, at least, those two days will be very well utilized.


	11. Chapter 11

Shizu stared at Madara like a fish that had been left on land. Her eyes were fixed on his own, not moving, and she kept opening her mouth as if she wanted to say something only to end up closing them as she was obviously rendered speechless.

Perhaps that was too head-on?

"Let me try again." He cleared his voice, taking a moment to sort out the words inside his head before speaking. "Are you open for an intercourse with me?" He asked formally, crossing his arms over his chest.

Shizu blinked a few times, turning her head to the side to look at the blank wall as if she wanted to ask it for help. Yet, she gave him no answer – and neither did the wall.

Madara sighed, going to _fix_ the situation once more. "Just give me your answer whatever it is. As a female you have the advantage of either accepting or refusing a male's courting."

"You think I'm stupid? And are you seriously referring to this as courting?!" She raised her voice, frowning her face as she bored holes into Madara.

"What am I doing right now if not courting you when I am clearly inviting you for sex?!"

"Have you ever courted anyone before?! Do you people just come up to each other when you feel like it and ask for _intercourse_?" She proceeded to scold him and just like that he had lost all hope of having her at least once before he leaves forever.

"Of course I have!" Madara talked back, slightly offended for her questioning of his romantic stunts. He had always been popular with women! "I just… never knew a woman for this long before courting her." Wasn't it late now for him to try seducing her when they already knew each other for so long?

At that she just laughed softly and shook her head. "I'll go get some wine. Do you want some?" She asked, heading towards the kitchen.

"I don't," He scoffed now that she was out of sight. "And you could have simply said no, why drag it out like this." He complained, leaning back into the recliner of the couch. At least she wasn't the one to be awkward about these things, it made everything so much easier.

"When did I ever say no?" Shizu peaked her head from behind the corner, soon coming out completely with a bottle and two wine glasses in her hands. "I just need some boost. Just like you never had a woman whom you knew well, I never slept with someone completely sober." She gave a wide smile, plopping down next to him on the couch.

"I said I don't want to drink." Madara defended, but she filled up both glasses regardless.

"It's not fair that I drink and you don't, be a gentleman." She insisted, taking her glass and drinking all the wine from it at once. He obeyed, taking his time to frown at his reflection in the liquid before drinking up as well.

"Drink one more and you'll get a kiss." She winked at him in attempt to look cute, pouring more wine. He frowned at her cheap way of getting him to booze with her, but he gave in once again.

Well, the air so far was strange indeed and would obviously get worse, but he's far from unhappy. Shizu filled up another glass and he drank up – the wine wasn't half bad.

He watched her take a long chug from the bottle, silently wondering how the hell he had come to be attracted to this person. Okay, she looked fine, but there were so many more terms that had to be met in order for him to acknowledge a woman as desirable. Objectively looked, Shizu could not even get a passing grade. Subjectively looked, the tiny stream of wine that was sliding down her chin like she was an old drunkard really turned him on.

He blinked a few times in confusion as she stood up rashly, swaying a little like she was struggling to achieve balance and stay on her feet.

"I think I'm good."

She turned to him and – ignoring his astonishment – slowly straddled his lap, wiggling her hips until she was comfortable.

"So… now?" As soon as those words left his mouth Madara internally cursed himself and all gods he knew. _What are you, fifteen years old?_ He remembered what Shizu asked him not so long ago, now wondering about it himself.

"Sorry, should I buy you a dinner first?"

"What?"

She face-palmed. "Sarcasm, Madara. Sarcasm."

He would have complained for her talking down to him – he knew sarcasm and he was good at using it too – but she kissed him before he managed to. Wasting no time on thinking any more of it, Madara wrapped his arms around her, pulling her body even closer to his own.

Shizu didn't bother with subtlety, her kisses were sloppy and wet and tasted like sweet wine. Evidently, she liked making sounds, she would gasp for air or moan while their lips were still pressed together; their tongues making contact every once in a while which made Madara's skin cower.

He sighed in pleasure as she moved her hips forward and put pressure on his crotch. Deepening the kiss, he slid his hands over her back and sides, silently enjoying how petite she was against him.

She pulled away.

"Get rid of this." She ordered breathlessly, helping him pull up his t-shirt. Once the cloth was off she threw it somewhere behind her, returning to kiss him again.

In between Shizu's smooching of every part of his upper body and their hips dancing dangerously close, in the mess of entangled limbs on the small couch, Madara had managed to unbutton her pajama top. Not all of it, but enough.

His fingers intertwined with her hair and he pulled on it – gently – but still making her follow his lead. Once his lips made contact with the newly exposed hot skin of her collarbone, he accidentally tugged harder. Fortunately, as an answer to that he got an excited gasp, followed by a small motion of her hips in acceptance.

His free hand traveled up Shizu's arm, leaving a path of goosebumps behind it until it finally reached its destination. He let his fingers engulf her covered breast, softly massaging it, soon feeling her hardened nipple touch his palm through the clothes.

As Shizu leaned back, curving in pleasure, he let go of her hair, having found a more urgent job for that hand. He straightened back, eager to see everything, as he went to unbutton the rest of the buttons on her top.

They obeyed so easily, as the cloth itself yearned to be removed. Very soon, he unbuttoned the last one and then…

The bell rang.

It seemed like it took both of them a few moments to cool down and see what was happening.

"Ah, why now?" Shizu moaned in protest, unwillingly getting up from her place on Madara's lap that he had gladly reserved for her.

She buttoned up the top just a little as she walked towards the entrance door. Lifting herself on her toes, she looked through the hole, then backed away from it – evidently in panic.

"What is it?" Madara stood up, frowning in slight worry.

"My mother! Get dressed, quickly!" She ordered, rushing to straighten herself up and throwing his forlorn t-shirt back at him on the way.

He slid it back on unwillingly.

 _The reservation was canceled_.


	12. Chapter 12

"H-hi mommy…" Shizu greeted reluctantly upon opening the door and facing her mother who stood torpidly, watching her with ice-cold eyes _. Yep, it was coming_.

"Hi mommy?" The older woman repeated mockingly, soon getting louder with each word that followed. "After disappearing without a trace for _five_ months, _thirteen_ days and _twenty two_ hours you tell me 'hi mommy', you vile girl!" She yelled, going to smack Shizu with her purse but the latter managed to dodge.

"You dare move away?! Come here, you stupid girl!" She barged in and Shizu ran to hide behind Madara, who watched the whole ordeal with completely unamused expression.

"I've been dying of worry and I come to find you with a man! Where have you been?!"

"Wait!" Shizu whined, stretching her arms out in defense. "I can explain."

Her mother's knife-sharp gaze wandered to Madara and she leisurely took a few seconds to stare him down. "And who might you be, young man?" Her tone was not the least bit softer and that was worrisome for Shizu. She was also concerned about what she might ask him. They're both dead meat if he tries to explain her the nature of their little ninja adventure.

"Uchiha Madara." He bowed down perfectly, looking the women in the eyes completely calm. Shizu envied him so much, still only peeping over his shoulder but soon she lost that shelter as he moved.

"I will go make tea so you can speak to your mother." He told her silently, his figure getting lost behind the kitchen door.

…..

"You drove over to some place in the middle of nowhere, your car broke down, this highlander found you and gave you shelter but they have no modern technology so it took you five months to get a ride home?" The woman dully recited the summary of the story Shizu had managed to come up with.

 _I'm so fucked_. Shizu kept telling herself. Like, how stupid would someone have to be in order to buy that moronic story? Madara, who sat behind her mother, made a disgusted face at the lack of common sense in her lie.

"My poor daughter!" Shizu almost choked on air as her mother scooted closer and pulled her into a tight hug. Reluctantly she hugged back, a smirk slowly making its way to her face as she locked gazes with Madara. She may be dumb, but this was her mother from whom she inherited that trait. She should at least be able to fool her.

"Breaking up with that bastard Ryota must have upset you a lot." She rubbed circles on Shizu's back in an attempt to soothe her – though the other didn't need soothing. That break-up was left long behind her. But hey, the woman was basically offering her a lie to tell so she would not bother to deny.

Sighing, she nodded into the older woman's shoulder, "Yes… I needed to go somewhere and clear my head."

She had managed to successfully get out of that horrible situation. But she had also failed;

She failed to see the change in Madara's posture, in the pace of his breathing. She failed to see how his hands had suddenly become restless.

He had realized the ugly, embarrassing truth. Shizu would sleep with him, apparently she didn't mind, but it would mean nothing to her. She wanted _someone else_. What he was about to get back there was pity sex.

His expression remained the same as he continued to stoically wait for this farce to end.

While Shizu was seeing her mother to the door, Madara collected the cups and glasses from the small table and took them to kitchen. He put them away into the dishwasher with an attitude because he had just realized he did that by habit. Since he commonly didn't fit very well into Shizu's social circle he would always busy himself with something.

Besides, he was assigned to do housework back when she had just allowed him to stay. The memory made him feel somewhat melancholic, but he soon shook it off.

He heard steps approaching and in a few moments he felt her presence behind him.

"A highlander? A farmer in a remote place?" He said with a dose of sarcasm, alluding on the role she had given him in her lie.

"Shut up, that's the first thing I managed to think of!" She whined, covering her face with her hands. "But she actually bought it."

He nodded, showing his silent agreement.

"She's even scarier than Tajima, no?" Shizu laughed softly, approaching Madara and sitting on top of the counter. He smiled lightly in response.

"She's fierce. They are just different types of scary I'd say."

He neatly folded a kitchen cloth he had used and put it over the edge of the sink. Before he could even retreat his hand, Shizu had placed hers over it. Her fingers caressed his skin slowly, playing with his own.

"Let's continue." She said softly watching him with something similar to passion in her eyes. But he did not believe it – not this time at least. He still wanted her but now he learned that she had a different man in her mind. He would not allow himself to make love to a woman who is probably picturing him as someone else.

"It's alright. Let's go to sleep. Your parents invited us for breakfast" He pulled his arm back and turned to go to bedroom.

He almost jumped in spot, startled, as thin arms got wrapped around his waist. He felt the warmth of her body against his back.

"It's not very late, we can still get enough sleep… Unless you're feeling _that_ confident." He could hear the laughter in her voice. Her hands moved and he was dangerously near to starting to panic as they slowly started to travel downwards.

His heartbeat quickened and for a moment he wondered if Shizu could feel it even from his back because his chest visibly moved from its intensity.

He fought to stop himself from shuddering as her hands had reached his lower abdomen. They were so appallingly close to touching his groin and no matter how much he wanted that, it would probably make him lose control and he had already decided he wouldn't do this.

He took her wrists and gently removed her hands from his body.

"Yes, I'm that confident and we need to sleep." He headed for the bedroom and his usual bed on the floor.

"You're aware that was a joke, right? I don't really care if we sleep or not. It's not like we have to go to that breakfast."

"I do. Good night, Shizu."

"But you said you want to do it!"

"I changed my mind. Good night."

"But I'm in the mood!"

"Too bad." Madara retorted, getting under his sheets.

"But you—"

"Shut up and sleep." He bit his lower lip because of the harshness of his tone. Shizu finally kept silent for a change and crawled under her own covers on the bed. He found that he hated it when she was silent because she usually never was and this meant he had pissed her off. But it was the only way. He'll only need to put up with it for another two days.

He tried to make himself comfortable but it wasn't easy with the sudden bad energy that rued the room.

"Do you have a problem with getting it up?" Shizu suddenly spoke again and it made him roll hi eyes so hard that he got a mild headache. She sat up again, meaning she wasn't done. "That fine, I can—"

"No. And no. Go to sleep."

"I don't want to sleep alone."

"I said we're not doing it."

"But come join me in the bed, never mind that."

Madara threw his covers off and got into the bed, looking at Shizu with his most grave serious gaze. "Just sleep."

"Okay." She nodded, making herself comfortable – and that seemed to mean she had to wrap herself around his arm. However, he let her be.

"I know that you're bothered because mom mentioned Ryota."

Madara didn't answer, but he didn't bother to deny either.

"I'll tell you about him tomorrow."

"That won't be necessary."

"I still will."


	13. Chapter 13

"… And he chased after me first! Then – wait for it – I come for my first day and find out he's my boss! How crazy is that?" Shizu took a long, frustrated sip of her morning coffee. "I mean, what are the odds for that to happen?"

"I told you I don't want to listen." Madara repeated himself tiredly, honestly not in any kind of mood to listen about her past lovers; especially not the one whom she still seemed to care for. He took a small bite of the ham sandwich before him, thinking how it was definitely a bad idea to let Shizu make breakfast. It's always half-assed and nutrition-less. He did it so much better.

"Ah, what kind of man are you? You want to sleep with me but you won't even listen to the stories I tell you." She took a bite herself, munching on it with an attitude which managed to bring corners of his mouth to lift in the tiniest of smiles.

"Alright." He finally sighed in defeat – if that's what it takes to make you shut up about it – he thought but refrained from voicing it out. "So what was the problem in the end?"

"He was married." She replied nonchalantly.

"Oh, don't look at me like that! I didn't know until later on. That's why I broke up." She swallowed another large bite of her sandwich, and much to Madara's dismay, went on, "It was really awkward at first, you know – since we saw each other at work every day. But with time I just learned to ignore it and now I don't even care."

"And that's it?" He brought himself to ask further. The sooner he makes her get to the end the better.

"Yes. Now we even greet each other, it's been a long time since we broke up, neither of us cares anymore. It's just my mom who can't get over it." She rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, I decided on what you and I will do today." She added, standing up to collect the dishes from the table and leave them in the sink.

Thankful for the unwanted conversation finally being over, but not any more interested, Madara simply narrowed his dark eyes at Shizu questionably, waiting for her to reveal her plans. _Probably something stupid_. He thought to himself.

"Let's go on a date."

"Harder!" Shizu urged excitedly, her hand's grasp firm on Madara's shoulder. "Faster, Madara. Ah… We're almost there!"

"No, we're not. _I_ am almost there. Now get off of my back and stop whining or I'll lose again." He jerked his shoulder to brush her off and set his concentration back on the arcade game. They were aiming to win a tablet, but kept losing. He despised games and bets like this – you keep losing, but each time it seems like you're a little closer to winning, so you keep it up.

Hashirama liked to bet and play lucky games, and he was pathetically bad at both. Madara felt like he could understand a piece of his sorrows now.

"Nah, I give up! Let's just go do something else." He was tempted to kick the damned machine, but decided against it in the last moment. He's a civilized citizen here, _yeah_ …

"Right." Shizu agreed shortly, picking up her pace in order to keep up with him. Once they walked side by side, he watched her sneak closer and bite her bottom lip as her hand slowly found its way around his waist, hugging him as they walked.

A few awfully stupid moments had passed before he finally threw his arm over her shoulder and pulled her slightly closer to himself.

Truth be told, Madara had never gone on a _date_ before. He had had women before, obviously, but he never had to walk around with them and spend days doing useless things, which he had done many today. If he liked the woman and she him, they'd just go ahead and take it to bed. Only if he meant to marry her would he have to take her around for everyone to see them together.

Such things did not matter here, apparently. One could have a dozen of partners who they showed to everyone even if they don't mean seriously with each other. He was glad for that – otherwise, he and Shizu wouldn't be doing this today. No matter how much he'd like to mean seriously and keep her around for… well, forever, it wasn't doable.

Unconsciously, he brought her closer to himself, the thoughts of never seeing her again ruined his good mood. And the thoughts of how they had spent most of their valuable time made it even worse.

They bickered and argued like stupid children most of that time. Very little of it was spent on nourishing their relationship, and he couldn't even tell how did it get down to this? How had he managed to start loving her out of all of that? Honestly, by all his parameters, she sucks.

"This is really weird." Shizu said slowly while her fingers were restless on his waist, probably itching to pull back but was unable to find the right moment to do so.

Madara hummed in agreement.

"Right? Let's just hold hands." She pulled away from their rotten hug and slipped her hand into his while they walked on. "This is better."

"Where are we going now?"

"Well…" She dragged out the beginning, "Since you still have some saved money left from the time you worked, _and_ since you're a perfect gentlemen," She went on without reacting to his snort, "You're going to buy me something."

"No doubt, you're a fine lady, yourself." Madara couldn't help his sarcasm, as he followed along nevertheless.

" _Excuse me_ , I didn't spot an exchange office anywhere in Uchiha camp? You have nothing else to do with that money. And this is our first date – you ought to buy me a present."

"And the last one. Indeed, I ought."

And just like that, the tension was back. _Way to go, Madara_.

Solid two hours were wasted on sitting in the fitting room and watching as Shizu pranced around in different clothing combinations. He was forced to give comments on nearly each one of them, but some he hadn't even seen properly. His eyes would just go out of focus and he let them be. This was a moronic idea, anyway. She could have just taken his credit cards and buy stuff on her own later.

"Remind me, why do I need to buy you rags?" He leaned back into the soft, luxurious recliner.

"Hey, this is the newest collection of the brand, and it's beautiful! And we already made it clear that you should buy me a present." Shizu continued to check herself out in the wall sized mirror, unbothered by his complaints.

"Yes, but shouldn't the present be something longer lasting than a pair of jeans or a blouse? Why not jewelry? Or, uh… an ornamented hair comb? Something you can have for a long time and that will make you think of me. Something that won't end up in garbage in a few months…" At last, he stopped, realizing that he had been babbling far more than usual.

 _Pathetic_. It doesn't even matter that much and he let himself get all worked up.

She turned to look at him, a thoughtful expression on her face. He wondered what it will be this time around. Necklace? Or perhaps a ring? Or maybe even that comb, since it was so ' _his era'_ , as she called it, it would have a nice symbolic, by the way. He liked that one.

But, what's with all the damned romantic ideas? If his profession already wasn't a shinobi, he could have been a fucking wedding planner. _Sickening_.

"Buy me a beautiful house by the sea so I can think of you during every moment I spend there."

"Tsk." He gave her an irritated look. "I don't have _that_ much money! Ask for something realistic!"

" _Oh_ , you don't? Then buy me the rags and give me good di** and be done with it. Jeez, so dramatic…" She disappeared behind the curtain again.

"Is… Is that so…" Madara mumbled into his chin, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. May he be damned for bringing up the proposal for them to sleep together, in the first place. It brought him nothing good, only a whole hill of unpleasant, handful conversations.

Entering through the apartment door seemed to have served as a trigger for Shizu – she was probably preying on the moment they get hidden behind the door – as she had carelessly thrown the bags with her purchased goods in the corner and jumped Madara as soon as he stepped inside after her.

He had managed to push the door closed with his foot before being shoved against the wall. Don't misunderstand, he was the one who allowed himself to be shoved – just to make sure nobody dares to doubt his undeniable strength.

She kissed him harshly and impatiently, already working on undoing his shirt. Once more, he was pulled in by her desirable, almost aggressive approach, responding with similar force.

The situation was awfully familiar; he's been there before. Encounter between him and the woman he would be involved with at a time gets delayed, then when it finally comes around, they jump each other like furious lions, each looking to achieve one goal – their own pleasure.

However, the pleasure is usually shortlived and they separate in shame at how animalistic they had presented themselves to be. In normal circumstances he would soon brush it off and simply make another arrangement to do better next time.

Only that now, there will be no next time.

Shizu was busy spreading hungry kisses down his throat, her fingers eagerly unclasping his belt, only to look at him with displeased expression – almost a pout – when he grabbed her wrists and held them away from himself.

He swiftly changed their positions, so that Shizu was leaned against the wall and he was the one in power. Rising one of her hands up to his mouth, he planted a soft kiss onto the pale skin that covered veins of her wrists. Letting go of her other hand, his fingers found their way to her face, cupping it lovingly before he leaned in and joined their lips into passionate yet gentle kiss.

Once he could feel she had relaxed, Madara let go of her completely and hugged her waist instead, letting their hips meet and make them both shudder with a new wave of excitement.

When their lips parted, Madara leaned his forehead against Shizu's, observing as her eyes traveled from his own and down to his mouth times and times again.

"I have many good things to give you before we get to the one you asked for", he whispered, smiling as his words made her chuckle.

He planted a small peck on her cheek and took her hand, leading the way to the bedroom.

If someone happens to decide to barge in this time, he silently swore to burn then with Amaterasu.


	14. Chapter 14

"Madara?!" The voice made him snap out of his bittersweet thoughts, and look at the person, unintentionally making an irritated expression.

"What? What, Hashirama?!" He yelled back. Shizu was just about to blow him in his fantasies and they were so harshly interrupted.

"Ever since you came back from wherever you've been you keep spacing out. I have asked you – third time, if I may add – what are we going to name this place?!" The Senju yelled back, then almost immediately slouched and let depression seemingly overwhelm him. "But I see you have more important things on your mind than our mutual dream."

"How should I know? Do I look like I'm good at naming things?"

"Right. You named your black dog Kuroo. But anyway, we're both the founders of this village, we need to name it together!"

 _Whatever the fuck…_ The wind got stronger for a few moments and Madara's eyes lazily followed a leaf it was playing with. He extended his arm and caught it. After examining it for a little while, he spoke, "Konohagakure."

"Meh, of course. What was I even expecting." Hashirama made sure his tone passes on all his disappointment. "Okay, we'll go with that."

Madara rolled his eyes at the other's stupidity, but it drew a tiniest of smiles from him either way. He sighed contentedly, letting his eyes take in the valley that was their village. It was great, and pretty, and fertile. They should be able to live very well in it.

Already, several small houses have budded out far below, while others were still in process. People worked very hard, both Uchiha and Senju were very optimistic about it and that made him happy.

So that's what it feels like having a dream come true?

"Have you heard that Uzumaki clan asked to join us?" He heard Hashirama say. "They offered me a hand of Uzumaki Mito. Should I accept?" He asked doubtfully.

Madara had heard both news, and even though he was unwilling to admit it, neither made him very happy. The grounds they stood on was already fragile enough because of two opposed clans, adding a third one to it didn't seem very wise to him. But then again, refusing would bring along issues as well.

The other thing was even more unsettling. Not that _he_ wanted the hand of bloody Uzumaki Mito, but nobody even considered him! It was as if he wasn't also founder of the village.

He didn't have any intention of turning this sacred project into power play, but it was obvious that Hashirama was the only one everyone took seriously and looked up to as their leader.

"If you want to. But I guess it would be a lousy way to start off if you refused."

When it came to Madara, even fucking kids cry when they see him!

The other day, when he had managed to teleport back after fifty attempts, he knocked down a child that happened to be in the woods, gathering mushrooms. The little jerk cried so much and wouldn't stop that Madara had to sprint all the way to the village and get Hashirama to help get him home.

He did his chores perfectly well, and he tried everything in his power to get along with everyone. Even damned Tobirama, who killed his brother, but nothing seemed to be enough. The bastard still loomed behind Hashirama, running his filthy mouth while looking at Madara, thinking he couldn't see them.

But he knew everything, he wasn't stupid.

For days already, he's been telling himself that all those problems were but bumps in the road and that he just had to do his best to cross them without commotion. No dream was fulfilled easily. But it's easier said than done. And it angered him to no end that, while he struggled, it all seemed to work so well for Hashirama.

It was unfair.

…

He entered the Uchiha side of the village, their temporary reside until the homes are built. He didn't really feel like going home and meeting his father, but it's not like he had a choice.

They fought again earlier that day, like every other since he had returned. Tajima just wouldn't stop being paranoid and insisting that coming together with the Senju was a horrible idea, while listing all the possible ways for the Uchiha to be ruined through it.

Madara took his complaints even worse than usually, as his doubts were also weighing down on him but he couldn't share them with anyone, else he would seem like a complete idiot.

Every day, he stormed out of the camp, needing to get away before he lashes out at Tajima.

He stopped abruptly, irritated, when someone ran straight into him. Instead of getting out of his way, they looked up and he saw that it was Rukia. She cried, he could see.

"What is it?" He asked, nonchalant. Had Tajima gone out of his way to even piss his mistress off? Well, good for him! She was the only one who stuck around because she wanted to, and oh, how Madara envied her.

"Your father is dead!" She gasped out, bringing herself even closer to him, seeking comfort, as she cried again.

"What?" Madara inquired, sounding strangely silent even to himself. No, she's mistaken. She had to be. "How could… How?"

"In his sleep!" The muffled response came, as Rukia buried her face in his shoulder.

"Let me through." He moved her gently to the side and made his way towards his father's tent, hoping and genuinely expecting to find the man drinking his tea and sulking, as always.

Died in his sleep? That's ridiculous, he wasn't even sick! How does a shinobi as legendary as Tajima die in his sleep? When he dies, it will be in a battle and… He barged into the tent, taken back all over again when he spotted Tajima's serene face while he lied on the cushion, completely still.

"Father?" He called, frowning at his own idiocy. He's dead, he cannot answer. Yet, he called again, kneeling down before the cushion. "Father…"

He placed a hand over the blanket covering Tajima's chest, the lack of movement, breath or heartbeat crushed all hopes of Rukia being mistaken. Leaning his forehead over his hand, Madara let out a broken sigh, his eyes itching as tears were gathering in them, soon sliding down his cheeks in small streams.

He wasn't there for him, the same way he wasn't there for Izuna. The only two people he had left in his life he had forsaken for something useless. The only two people who genuinely cared for him, he had abandoned for a woman who can never be his and a village that would never accept him as its leader.

"I'm sorry…" He whispered breathily, sniffing. "I should have listened better."

…

So, here he was. Lying helplessly, all energy drained from his body, waiting for Hashirama to come and kill him. All of it even worse, because the other was heavily wounded himself and he walked with all speed of a snail.

It was just like his father had predicted. He should have never made a truce with the Senju. Hashirama turned against him, village he helped create turned against him, even his own clan had turned against him as well.

After Tajima died, it was as if the Uchiha just stopped taking him seriously. They wouldn't listen to his orders, nor suggestions.

He took only a day or two away from work, needing his time to mourn, and already when he returned, he came to find Tobirama had turned Hashirama against him.

Who was he kidding, in the first place? As if Hashirama would go against his brother and the entire village just to have Madara be next Hokage. Madara was apparently the only one stupid enough to betray the memory of his brother just so he could join the enemy.

He may have gone overboard with brining the Nine Tails to destroy everything, but he believed that was the best thing to do. In the heat of the moment, it seemed like the only solution. Destroy that lair of false hope and have all clans live their separate lives as they were meant to.

Uchihas would always be looked upon as a threat and because of that they should just ruin those who stand in their way. For when they show an ounce of good will, they will inevitably be played and rejected, like he was.

But once again, he's just a stupid son of a bitch for even caring! They had turned against him! He could have simply gone back to Shizu now that he cut all the ties with the village and the clan. But no, he hadn't had enough of disappointment.

He raised his gaze when Hashirama had finally dragged himself close enough and stood above him. He seemed sorrowful, but he'll probably be overwhelmed by relief once Madara is dead.

But Madara didn't want to die. He wanted to go to Shizu, live in a stone and glass cube of a house, work as a surgeon and make love to her as much as possible. Was that too much to ask?

Where was his fucking brain when he decided to pick up that damned fox?

His chakra was drained, using up even more of it could kill him and not a small amount was necessary to have Sharingan teleport him. He might show up over there dead, or just fail completely and stay here, have a stick pierced through his chest.

Hashirama raised the improvised weapon, its sharp point was no less deadly than that of the shiniest sword.

He spoke, probably spilling more bullshit about their ruined shared dream. How is it shared when one of them gets everything and the other gets nothing?

Hashirama's arm jerked and moved the weapon, and Madara's eyes flared up bright red, the black circles inside of them spinning, each spin making him even more languid. As if he was falling asleep in drunken state, it was almost pleasant.

The weapon hurled down and he may have even felt it come in touch with his skin, and then it disappeared. And Hashirama with it too.

Above him appeared clear night sky and a tall street lamp, illuminating the pavement he lied on. He was right in front of Shizu's building, he realized. Yet, there's no way he could stand up and walk over to the apartment. He would just fall back down. At this point, even breathing was tiring and painful.

Too bad, he was _this_ close.


	15. Chapter 15

"You stupid bitch." Shizu gravely made eye contact with her reflection in a big mirror. Seriously, it's like she is still a teen who doesn't know shit about the way feelings and adult people function.

Her gaze lazily slid over to a bouquet of pink roses on her bed, and her muscles cringed at the sight on their own.

He got divorced, her boss. It's been several months since she heard of it and she was beginning to get curious and slightly bitter because he made no advances to approach her again. And he acted all devastated when she left him after learning he had a wife.

Then, he came to her door, asking about where she had been all that time while missing work and went out of his way to excuse her before his superiors and let her resume working on her usual position! That alone was suspicious enough.

However, this morning, roses were delivered to her door with a movie ticket and a very sweet card. He asked her on a date.

But… She was not excited. Rather than joy – which in normal circumstances this would have been – it made her feel burdened. She didn't want to see him privately that much anymore, yet all the favors he had done her kind of obligated her to at least go and meet him.

Oh, why did she not want him anymore? For rational and healthy reasons, of course: it's just that his hair was too short, his gaze too gentle, his hands too soft and he lacked the ability to kill her with his thoughts at any given moment.

During her twenty-something years she had made many mistakes and hooked up with many people when she shouldn't have, but this thing with Madara had to be her worst case until now.

To make things even worse, yes, it wasn't just the sex. She got accustomed to him, she replayed their conversations inside her head when bored and laughed at them, she found the house to be empty without his presence… and then cherry on top – she fucked him right before he had to leave for good.

Who does that?!

Shouldn't a normal person think well before going to that extent? Ask yourself how you really feel, is this thing purely casual, will you not care if they never speak to you again?

She didn't like her answers to neither of those questions, but, alas, she only thought of asking them now when everything was over. Typical.

Sighing, she got up and moved away from her vanity, going to search for something to wear and go meet her ex-mistake – it might make her forget about the latest one she made.

Bright red was all Madara could see. Red light mixing with electric blue, orange, and many more colors. The sunlight was creating them as the rays landed on his face and closed eyes.

So, he lived. He concluded silently, too weak to even be happy for the fact.

He was lying on a soft surface, yet he was far from comfortable. His entire body felt sore, it ached from the top of his head and all the way to the tips of his toes.

"Dude, you awake?" A voice unknown to him spoke, forcing him to finally blink his eyes open. They squinted and fought to get adjusted to the brightness of the day after being closed for a long time, and ultimately they succeeded, as always.

He scanned his surroundings until his eyes landed on a boy who stood relatively near his bed. A young face full of acne, completely strange to him, hovered over his own when the boy got even closer.

"Man, when I found you I thought your ass was dead, I almost decided to just walk by. You're lucky, bro!" He smiled, and Madara even managed to smile back weakly. This lad was sweet, and he did not have any reason to be unhappy. He successfully reached this world and lived, even though the odds were very slim.

"Imma go now, see ya." The lad waved to him and then plugged earphones in his ears and walked out.

Madara closed his eyes once more, the pain quickly made him very tired again. It was so easy.

His body strained and fought to relax, but his mind was empty – in a wonderful way like it hadn't been in years. It was like a spacious, empty, green meadow and therefore, falling asleep despite physical discomfort was easy.

His suffering was no more, it was all behind him now. He will rest, and when he awakes, he will start over.

Finally, he was able to see himself doing so.

Lying in the hospital bed for over a week got Madara slightly cranky, but at last, the day he gets discharged had come.

He slowly made his way down the street, swiftly ignoring the gawking of passerby's for he wore the hospital pajamas; his own clothes were too ruined so the nurses threw them away right upon his arrival.

As he had no money on him whatsoever, he'd walk all the way back to Shizu's flat, but he didn't mind that either. The day was sunny, and he could really use a stroll after so many days of being horizontal.

It took him nearly an hour to get there, and he was glad to find that Shizu hadn't changed the entrance password. He took his time to be idle, only tidying up a little bit of the mess as he couldn't bear to look at it. Annoyingly, he did it all with contented expression on his face.

This is what he wished for.

He left the adventurous life of a renowned shinobi behind to come here and clean after a messy woman. He didn't even dare imagine what Tajima would have to say about that if he was still alive to see this. The thought made him laugh by himself.

It was still hardly past noon, so he knew Shizu wouldn't be home in another couple of hours.

He prepared some food, shuffled around the apartment to find his things, checked internet news for job opportunities…

If he will live here, he needed to soon get a new job and start earning money. The woman he wanted to get serious with was higher maintenance than he preferred, but he wasn't the one to give up on a challenge. Maybe he should use Sharingan to get another doctor's degree just in case?

Time passed and Madara barely took notice of it, as he was too preoccupied with his thoughts of the future, and if not with them, his attention was glued to the television. The sound of the main door opening got him surprised, so he quickly rose to his feet, almost feeling the need to fidget or perform some other ridiculous act of nervousness.

What was he? A fucking bride?

He straightened up and stood still, waiting for her to reach the living room and see him.

It took a few minutes of her shuffling through the tiny hallway, changing her shoes for house slippers and leaving her things on the hanger. She dragged her feet on the floor in those slippers in an annoying way, which, once again, brought a smirk upon Madara's naturally grim face.

He cursed his facial muscles for not bracing themselves better, but figured that today he should just let himself be. Why was he so angry and embarrassed to be happy? Had he really gotten so unused to the feeling of genuine happiness?

At last, she made her way into the room he was standing in, stopping dead in her tracks as she noticed a figure looming in the dark. She screamed and grabbed the closest heavy object which was a flower pot and lifted it above her head.

Yeah, it would have probably been wiser if he turned on the lights.

"Wait, wait!" He warned, taking a several steps towards the wall to press the light switch.

The room lit up, spacious and white, and he just came to realize this was exactly how they first met. He watched Shizu's expression transform from panic, over confusion, and to surprise.

Blinking the shock away, she watched the pot in her hands as if it was some alien creature before finally putting it away in its original place.

Silent, she speed-walked over to where Madara stood, standing close and simply watching him with wide eyes, letting them circle all over his face as if it would turn out it's not him at any moment.

"You're back." She said simply after a while, and although Madara wasn't sure if it was a statement or a question, he answered it.

"Yes."

"For good?"

"Yes." He answered breathily, never breaking their eye-contact.

Then she kissed him. And again.

And he brought her even closer, deepening their kiss, making it all more intimate and meaningful.

There were a lot of things he wanted to tell her about, and she to him probably, but right now there was no time for words. He took a step or two backwards and felt his back touching the wall, as Shizu advanced forward and pressed herself closer to him.

He let out a hiss as his body still ached in certain places, but he chose to ignore it and continued as before.

They stopped after a little while and without a word walked to the bedroom. He already worked on unbuttoning her business shirt, but her hands stopped his in the midst of it.

"Mhm." She broke the kiss. "Shower first." She smiled, and led the way further into the room and into the bathroom connected to it.

They allowed the hot water to run down their now nude bodies, relax and cleanse them, as they continued to caress and kiss each other just the same. Shizu soothed his hair with her hands as it got more and more damp, and started to stick to his skin. Then, she let them roam his body, and very soon he could no longer handle the delay.

He licked his fingers before letting them slide between her legs, watching and listening as she got more excited. As she soon let one of them caress its way up his own leg and stay at his hip, he knew what she wanted.

Placing his hands under her buttocks, Madara lifted her up against the tiled wall, feeling her legs wrap around his torso.

They shared another lustful, wet kiss and at last, he entered her, drawing sighs of pleasure from both of them.

After making love, they took their time to relax and lie embraced, wrapped in wet sheets.

"What are you thinking of so hard?" He asked after a while, as he's been carefully watching her for some time.

"… I'm thinking of a way to tell you I got a boyfriend." The response came after a few seconds, but it was no less shocking because of that.

"What?!" Madara sat up, making her head leave his shoulder and fall into the pillow.

"Yeah… My boss and I… sort of got back together." She sat up as well, and shrugged her shoulders. "But it's no big deal, I'm just gonna leave him."

How stupid was he, really? Had he turned into a crazy daydreamer or had his problems back at home make him idealize this world he had here with this woman?

How could he have forgotten how crazy and irresponsible she was?

"Had it even been two months since I left? And isn't he married?!" He yelled, even more infuriated by her indifference. "What the fuck?"

"FYI, he's divorced. And what did you expect?! Should I be faithful to you from a different universe? I just moved on with my life.

Also, as I said, I'll just end it with him, and that's it. No need for drama." She unwrapped the white sheets from herself and tapped her bare feet around the room, until she finally got a hold of oversized t-shirt that she slid over her naked body.

"Where do you think you're going? I'm not done."

"I'm going to order us pizza and then call Ryouta to break up with him, and you will get dressed and chill the fuck out. Got it?"

He refused to answer, and instead, sulked, averting his gaze from her.

"Madara?"

"Yes, yes, alright! Whatever." He threw the covers off of himself and went to collect pieces of his clothes with an attitude.

"And you'll also change the sheets."

"Don't push it. I'm not in the mood to tolerate—" She skipped over to him and pecked his lips.

"You do it so much better than me." She said sweetly, and Madara felt his anger flying away, then got angry all over again because it was that easy for her to make him let up.

Then she went away, dialing up a number on her phone and talking to someone on the other line; leaving him alone in the bedroom.

Yes, this is how his life is going to be now.

And when he caught himself smirking again, he knew he loved it. And he loved Shizu, and she him. Finally, everything will be okay.

"Hey?"

He turned around to face her as she stood at the door, cellphone in her hand.

"Perhaps I should wait a little longer before breaking up? You know, I'm this close to a promotion and— Okay! Okay! No need for red eyes! Jesus. It was only a suggestion." She dialed another number and walked away once more.

Fuck.


End file.
